<p>^ i second that question. grad school? which one? :)</p>
<p>So I talked to my friend at Chicago, and he told me I should apply. He told me that people actually like want to do stuff on the weekends, which is probably the least I can ask for (probably more...especially than my current school). Also, he assured me that the athletic facilities were sweet (we saw it on the tour but didn't go in :-(). Like I feel a lot better about the life there in general because my main concern was surviving the work without doing horribly, and having a better undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that students at Chicago think about "surviving the work" in order to have a good undergraduate experience. I think they tend to go for the work, to do the work and that academics are a big part of what they want their undergraduate experience to be.</p>
<p>May be I'm not using the right phrasing.</p>
<p>I understand--I was just remembering my son's concerns about the core--he was concerned that people felt stuck in class and just had to get through it; he'd had enough of that in HS. The interviewer and students on campus explained that people attend U of C because of the core not in spite of it. They go to class because they want to engage not to just get the work behind them. He has found this to be true, to his great happiness. I just want everyone to find a college that works well for them.....and to your point, he has found that people do want to do things on weekends. From the bits I hear it may be city or neighborhood eating, shows, talks, never seems to be a problem finding people interested in high culture/academic stuff or regular popular stuff.</p>
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From the bits I hear it may be city or neighborhood eating, shows, talks, never seems to be a problem finding people interested in high culture/academic stuff or regular popular stuff.
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<p>I'll agree on this one-- I get invitations from everything from invitations to opera, jazz performances, and art museums to invitations to parties, bad movie marathons, and heavy metal shows in my e-mail. It's as easy as chatting up your housemates and figuring out who likes to do what you like to do.</p>
<p>Well, I feel like at my school, there's a lot of people who want to get the work behind them. That's a plus for me. I want to learn as well, but I guess my question is more about whether I will learn and be able to handle the workload...talking to my friend, I think everything will be alright. It's a matter of applying myself anyways. It'll be a new environment...in a good way.</p>
<p>See just that ordinary go out and do stuff like with culture, shows, etc...is what I want or at least a good part of what I want.</p>
<p>From what I see with my child, a second year student, the reputation that Chicago has as being the place where fun comes to die is ridiculous. Also, the idea that grading is far too difficult is also not true in general. My child was a decent high school student, but certainly not like some of these uber brains posting on CC. She had about a 3.6 cum and just 1400 on her SATs when superscored. At the U of Chicago she presently has a 3.7 cum, with much of that coming from core courses, and while she does do a lot of reading and writing, she does not find the work overwhelming by any means. She also has a lot of time to pursue her interests, including singing in three of the school's choirs, going to films, out to eat, to concerts, etc. She really has a great social life with lots of friends and things to do. The school is really quite well rounded unless you are a sports nut, then of course it does not compare to a Division I school. But there are even a lot of sports to participate in including pilates and martial arts ( my child has gotten two belts so far) and a lot of Division III sports. I am quite impressed by the diversity of the experience. Don't let people turn you off by many of the myths about Chicago. Yes, it is intellectual and people are into their academics, but that is not all there is to the school.</p>
<p>What's her major? </p>
<p>Well, I'm familiar with UofC sports...I'm currently in the conference...and my school has beaten Chicago the last couple years in the sports that I actually follow. I think it's great that there's a lot of sports to participate in because I really want to get back into that plus into martial arts. I guess my issues are more with myself because I've been in environments where I've had tons of work and like done okay, but didn't apply myself the best I could have.</p>
<p>My child has not declared her major yet as she is still finishing the core courses, but has started taking the prereqs for international studies, two languages and history. So she is not taking the intense math or science courses, but has had to take calculus and core science courses. I think that the difference here is that she is really stimulated at Chicago and applies herself, so it shows in her grades. Are there intense courses where grading is really deflationary? I guess there are, but they are the same courses that would be tough to get A's in at any university, no matter what the ranking. The point is that if you feel that you fit in at Chicago and are willing to apply yourself, it can be a fabulous experience.</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean I want to learn and I have been applying myself, that's why I've done much better in college. I don't want to go to college to coast through my classes: I want an awesome academic experience, but I also think a "college education" is more than just academics. it's about what you learn about yourself and about the environment around you. it's about maturing through young adolescence.</p>
<p>(thank you newenglandparent for that ray of hope.) ;)</p>
<p>How much time do you think people spend studying per week? I would love if you answered dividing into groups between those who do really well, who do average, those who do worse than average. I understand that there are other variables like intellectual capacity, but I'm talking about in general.</p>
<p>Heh, the problem with that is that you don't really know who's doing really well, who's "average", or those "who do worse than average". And there are a LOT more variables than "Intellectual Capacity" lol, like what classes you are taking, how many classes you are taking, if you have study groups for the classes/how many people in your house are in your class, how much of a perfectionist you are, how much you are actually interested in the class/material, etc etc</p>
<p>You study as much as you need or want to. Last quarter when I didn't have a job I found myself with a lot of free time and I ended up doing well. Now that I have a job (15-20 hrs/week) it's not the easiest thing to manage, but yea, ya do what ya gotta do and I love my job anyhow. </p>
<p>Also, if anyone finds themselves obsessing over whether you're going to make it out of UChicago with an amazing GPA, perhaps UChicago isn't for you. But I do also say that with a large grain of salt, because when I was in highschool (even up to senior year) I thought grades meant almost everything.. but UChicago has a way of changing that perception :)</p>
<p>hahaha, I'm kind of the opposite. I thought grades didn't mean to much until I started looking at colleges. I'm like much more focused now, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I want to transfer. Whenever I ask about GPA on one of these threads, I get the "If you care so much about your GPA, may be U of Chicago isn't for you." I just want to clarify that I want a better academic experience in addition to other things. Right now, sometimes I sit in class and wonder if I'm really in college...like I'm just here to get a degree. I want an academically stimulating environment, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about grades at all. I also feel as though if I studied all the time a UChicago, I'd be missing out on all the university has to offer. Correct me if I'm wrong.</p>
<p>I'll agree with everything WindSlicer said, insofar as you will have no idea which of your friends are doing better than you and which ones aren't. My statistics coming into the school put me smack dab in the middle of the U of C pool. I see a lot of people who work less than me and a lot of people who work more. So yeah, call me average.</p>
<p>My friends who took time-eating classes like O-Chem say they would spend 10-15 hours a week on a 8 hour/week class. Most of my classes meet 3-4 hours a week, and I would say I put in about 5-7 hours a week of work for each one. If you were to multiply that out, you'd find that I do about 40 hours a week of schoolwork, which is a "standard" full-time job.</p>
<p>In addition to the schoolwork, I have a job I love, a volunteer position I love, and friends I love. So yeah, I'm pretty set.</p>
<p>That seems more than manageable, thanks unalove.</p>
<p>As an observation not really germane to this conversation, it is interesting to read Univ. of Chicago and Princeton Univ. threads for the depth and quality of the student comments. Northwestern Univ., which is not too far from the Univ. of Chicago and shares a similiar quarter schedule, has instituted a two course credit, year long humanities seminar designed to emulate humanities studies at U. Chicago and St. Paul's School ( an elite boarding prep school in New England which pioneered cross discipline humanities study). Quite a compliment.</p>
<p>That's true. I find the UChicago discussions a pleasure to read.</p>
<p>Hah, that's so nice. I think I have to thank other posters for asking good questions though! I'm really not into "School X rocks, School Y doesn't" type conversation, but I do love chatting about Chicago.</p>
<p>I've heard about NU's initiative, it sounds cool, but I don't know how modeled it is on Chicago. A lot of schools (Cornell, Duke, and Harvard, to name three that I know of) have a writing/humanities requirement the first year. I'm a big fan of these requirements... my friends at those schools have taking writing courses on everything from Agatha Christie to De Tocqueville.</p>